Many different machine designs and methods are known which enable machines of similar or identical types to be made to customer specifications. It is desirable in many instances to provide customers with a variety of hardware and operating options in connection with a finished product. The reasons for such flexibility may be a desire for a range of pricing options, optional hardware for different machine applications and other factors such as jurisdictional requirements. In the context of construction machines and the like, a manufacturer may wish to design certain machines to have a standard basic platform, but provide options to add, subtract, or substitute certain parts upon request.
One challenge in providing different hardware options for a finished product is the difficulty in designing a machine platform which can accommodate different hardware without creating significant cost issues or sacrificing performance. Many machines, notably machines of the type used in construction, forestry, mining and similarly rugged environments need to be relatively ruggedly built. To this end, hardware used to couple various of the machine components together tend to be relatively robust, and primary components of the machines such as frames and bodies are typically purpose built for specific hardware.
In one example, machines intended for use in off-highway or in similarly demanding applications often have an operator cab which is manufactured separately from a frame, then coupled with the frame by way of a suspension. The suspension typically absorbs certain shocks and vibrations rather than transmitting them to the operator within the cab. One cab mounting/suspension apparatus is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,935 B1 to Kirschenmann et al. Various jurisdictional requirements exist which mandate that certain machines be able to withstand rollovers and other relatively traumatic events. Mounting strategies for coupling the operator cab with the frame have traditionally been relatively inflexible to avoid compromising integrity of the connections between the respective components. As such, providing customer options for different suspensions has heretofore been challenging apart from designing different machine platforms purpose built for a specific type of suspension.
The present disclosure is directed to one or more of the problems or shortcomings set forth above.